Sweetech flavor enhancers can help firms slash sugar by up to 50%

Sweetech, a new family of flavor enhancers from Bell Flavors and Fragrances, can help food and beverage manufacturers achieve significant (20-50%) reductions in sugar and retain a clean label, claims the Illinois-based company.

In a chocolate milk, for example, formulators could ditch up to 50% of the sugar and use a Sweetech natural flavor instead of a high potency sweetener, Aaron Graham, VP, technical services, told FoodNavigator-USA.

“It’s a family of products so we’ve got natural and artificial flavors​ [and organic compliant and Non-GMO Project verified options] depending on what the customer is looking for, and for some customers, having ‘natural flavor’ on the label instead of a high intensity sweetener might be preferable,” ​he said.

Masking off tastes in high intensity sweeteners​

For companies making more significant sugar reductions that require high intensity sweeteners, Sweetech flavors can also mask the bitterness sometimes associated with these ingredients and “round out​” and complement the flavor profile, he added.

“We’ve got products that can enhance the sweetness of sugar, corn syrup, and high potency sweeteners such as stevia.”​

Meat and savory applications​

From an applications perspective, much of the initial work was done in beverages, but has since evolved to cover bakery, confectionery and savory/meat recipes, he added. “We’ve just been talking to a company about a turkey-based sausage where we can reduce sugar by 40% using Sweetech technology and the sausage tastes exactly the same.”​

While giants such as Givaudan and IFF have done a lot of work on sweet flavor enhancement and modulation, it was more unusual for a mid-tier player such as Bell Flavors & Fragrances​​ to have this kind of technology, he said. “We’re big enough to invest in this type of R&D, but we’re still small enough to be very flexible and nimble in the marketplace.”​